Internal Romances
by Blood-Spattered
Summary: A new internlab-tech has come to the lab, while the team is still in grief from the loss of Holly Gribbs. The team is a little less than welcoming because of this, except for her fellow lab-rat Greg Sanders, who becomes the first person who knows her.
1. Default Chapter

**Summary: A new intern/lab-tech has come to the lab, while the team is still in grief from the loss of Holly Gribbs. The team is a little less than welcoming because of this, except for her fellow lab-rat Greg Sanders, who becomes the first person she's ever let into the wall that she has built around herself. GregOC.**

**Disclaimer: Do you think I'd be writing fanfictions if I owned CSI? Trust me, I'd be writing the show, getting rid of all hints of GS, and placing myself in it somehow…anyway, yes, obviously I don't own CSI or anything else. I don't even own this computer, it's my dads…I do own my character though. And my storyline. So no stealing, got it?**

**Spoilers: The Pilot episode obviously…uh…can't think of any others at the moment, but if there are, I'll be sure to list them.**

**Rating: PG-13, and that's just so that I can swear or curse if I'm in the mood. No sexual stuff, I don't think. If there is that is more than PG-13 (unlikely) then I'll move up the rating.**

**Author's Notes: Yes, I noticed that there didn't seem to be a lot of Greg romance fics out there. There are certainly lots of Greg angst fics, and, I'm sorry, but I got quite tired of them, so I thought I'd write something different. If there are any spoilers that I forgot to mention, someone please tell me? Thanks! Please Read and Review!! If this sounds too much like my other fanfictions, someone please tell me that also…**

Internal Romances

_How _**do**_ you get the caramel inside the Caramilk chocolate bars? _Thought the young woman as she munched on a chocolate bar on the way to her new job. This was the only non-nervous thought that she'd had so far, and it seemed rather out of place. She gulped, accidentally swallowing the piece she'd been chewing on too early and nearly choking, but managed to get it down. That was close, she nearly became one of the bodies that she would be spending her time studying and doing tests on.

Well, technically she wouldn't really be studying the bodies. Although she _was_ technically an intern, the mayor had informed her, when she'd been employed, that she would be hanging out in the lab for 'an undetermined amount of time'. Although she hadn't heard much, she'd heard rumours that something had happened to the last person hired to work in the lab, so they were taking no chances. She still didn't know for sure what it was.

Finishing her chocolate, she shoved the wrapper in her jeans' pocket for later disposal, and yawned, drumming her red-painted fingernails against the steering wheel, whistling a random tune as she waited for the light to change from red to green. When it finally did, she flipped her wavy blonde-streaked brown hair out of her face as she turned left, heading towards the Las Vegas Crime Lab. It was currently nearing eight o'clock at night, and the shift would be starting in about an hour. She wanted to get there early so that she could find out where everything is before anyone else got there.

She pulled into the parking lot, glad that she'd found it without much difficulty. Parking her car, she climbed out, rubbing her dark blue eyes to get the dust out of them. She locked her car, then walked towards the doors, nervously straightening her jean jacket, which was unzipped, revealing a red T-shirt underneath. After taking a deep breath, she pulled open the doors, walking up to the receptionist, who, luckily, seemed to have known she was coming and directed her to sign in on the clipboard, which she did, signing her name neatly:

_Amanda Terries_

Yes, that was her name. Amanda Terries or Mandy for short. After signing in, the receptionist, who's smile seemed plastered on, gave her a locker number and a key, and she thanked her and started down the hall towards where the woman had said to go. _Down the hall, last door on the right…or was it left? _After thinking for a moment, she turned right, and found herself nearly walking into what was obviously not the locker room. In fact, it appeared to be the supervisor's office, Gil Grissom, where she was supposed to go _after _finding her locker.

She quickly did an about-face; heading left, and found herself walking into the locker room, and, surprisingly, not alone. There was already a brunette, who was pulling on some running shoes and looked up, no smile on her face. "Hi, who are you?" She asked, rather coldly, and Amanda was a bit taken aback, but recovered enough to answer.

"Amanda Terries, new intern/lab-tech." She answered, smiling widely in the hopes that this would provoke a friendly response out of the other woman, but was sadly disappointed as the woman didn't even smile, or even hold out her hand to be shaken.

"Oh, so you're the new intern. I'm Sara Sidle, CSI level 3…guess that's your locker." She indicated the empty locker, then started towards the door. "I've got to go, it was nice talking to you." Although she said it, it was rather hollow, and Amanda had a feeling that she hadn't meant it. Wondering why Sara was so cold to her, she decided not to dwell on it. Maybe she was just having a bad day. Finding her locker, she checked it out, then placed her small handbag inside it, closed it and locked it, pocketing the key.

Remembering where the supervisor's office was, she knocked on the door, and was rewarded by the sound of someone shifting inside, and then the door being opened, revealing an older man, who for a moment appeared confused, then it seemed to dawn on him and he went stoic.

"You must be the new intern…Miss Amanda Terries, right?" He, at least, seemed a little less cold than Sara had, but he acted more like he didn't care much at all. His hair was tinged with grey, she noticed, although he couldn't be older than his forties, and she wondered if this CSI business aged you before your time…She nodded her head in answer to his question.

"That's right, Amanda Terries, or Mandy for short." She felt rather as if nobody she'd met so far really wanted to meet her, they were just being formal and polite. Maybe this had something to do with whatever those rumours had been. Grissom nodded, looking through the file in his hand, which she saw had her name on the cover.

"Well, you'll be working with our resident lab-rat, Greg Sanders, but he won't be here yet. I'm surprised that you're here yet, after all, shift doesn't start for another…twenty-five minutes." He commented, glancing at his watch and raising an eyebrow. Good, he seemed to be warming up to her…at least a little bit.

"I just wanted to find out where everything was before everyone else got here…" She explained, shrugging. "I mean, I'll be spending most of my time in this lab, it seems, so I might as well know where everything is…" She trailed off, not wanting to say too much. She didn't actually like to get extremely close to people, because then they usually wanted to learn more about her. She didn't like having people know too much about her.

He was nodding, and closed the file. "Well, that's good, because you've left just enough time to go talk to Jim Brass, the head of homicide…he's the one that hired you…" She nodded, and followed him as he walked out of his office, taking a moment to survey the various jars that were littered around it. Lots of bugs…not her favourite type of creature…

"I'll show you where stuff is along the way." He said over his shoulder as she followed him. "There's Greg's lab, which will also be your lab now. You specialize in DNA, I believe it says here?" She nodded, although he wasn't looking at her. "Good, than you and Greg will get along well."

They continued along like that, with him pointing things out and her trying to keep up with everything. They stopped outside one of the offices, which had the name Jim Brass on the outside, and Grissom knocked. The door was opened by a stern-looking older gentlemen, who ushered them inside, although he looked like he would much rather not talk to them.

"The new meat, eh? Amanda Terries, I believe?" She nodded, without saying anything. This man definitely screamed police officer, and she felt immediately intimidated, which was not a feeling she particularly liked. "Well, Miss. Terries, you are an intern, but, as I'm sure our kind mayor has told you, you will not be going out into the field in the immediate future. I'm sure you haven't been told why, and I'm not going to tell you. You'll find out in due time."

She just nodded, feeling annoyed at not being told anything. Grissom watched the exchange, waiting to see what was going to happen. Brass continued on after a pause for breath. "I don't have much else to tell you, except mind your Ps and Qs, because you were on borrowed time before you even got here, you understand? So don't mess up, or it'll be on your head." She nodded, willing herself not to physically lean away from him, as he was definitely trying to intimidate her.

He nodded at Grissom, who quickly gave a nod towards the door, indicating that she should leave, and she exited gratefully, glaring at the closed door for a moment, hands on her hips, then left to head towards the lab, which Grissom had pointed out earlier. As she passed by the break room, she paused, noticing that there were four people hanging out, including Sara. She stood in the doorway for a moment, uncertain whether to go in or not, when Sara turned around and noticed her.

"Hey, Amanda, right?" She asked, causing the other three to turn around, revealing a brown-skinned man, with brown hair and blue eyes, ((A/N: I think…)) a slightly older woman with strawberry-blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and a muscular dark-haired man with dark eyes. Amanda nodded, and all of the three stood up to introduce themselves, although it didn't seem as if they really wanted to, they just were trying to be polite.

"Hi, Catherine Willows, you must be the new intern…" She saw glances exchanged between the four of them, with the brown-skinned man looking down at the floor, then sticking out his own hand.

"Warrick Brown…nice to meet you…" It sounded hollow, but she tried to smile and act like she hadn't noticed. Finally, the last man came forward; the only one who seemed to have an at least semi-genuine smile on, holding out his hand, which she shook after dropping Warrick's.

"Nick Stokes…welcome to the team." She smiled, and introduced herself.

"Amanda, Amanda Terries…you can call me Mandy…" She smiled at the others, but it faded as there was an uncomfortable silence, and she shifted from foot to foot. "Er…do you guys know if Greg's here yet?" She asked, but before anyone could respond, a voice came from the door.

"Someone call my name?" She turned, as it was the only voice so far she'd heard that was cheerful. Seeing the unknown girl, he sauntered in, his lab-coat undone, revealing a button up shirt with a rather unusual design, which she found interesting. "Hello, hello, I don't believe we've met. Name's Greg Sanders." He stuck out his hand, which she shook, smiling softly.

"Hi, I'm Amanda Terries." She said, letting her hand drop down to her side, smiling, and was glad when this time there wasn't an uncomfortable silence.

"Oh, so _you're _my new partner-in-crime." He swung an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in the general direction of the lab, someone managing to make it quite casual. "You've got a lot to learn, my little grasshopper, and I'll be sure to teach you everything you need to know." She glanced over her shoulder at the four other CSIs, who were all rolling their eyes rather half-heartedly.

"So you're the _masta_?" She asked jokingly, to which he solemnly nodded, opening the door to the lab with a flourishing bow.

"Yup, and welcome to your training room, my little grasshopper." He added as she stepped into the lab, through the glass doors, looking around at all the machinery, obviously fascinated. She recognized all the equipment, of course, but she'd never really gotten to use it in school. They didn't have the money to get enough for everyone, and she usually was stuck watching the other students while she took notes.

She turned around, to see what Greg was up to, and she saw that he was glancing out each window, as if making sure that nobody was coming then turned to her, heading towards the desk. "Make sure nobody is coming." He whispered, and she raised an eyebrow, but glanced out each window, and nodded when she saw no one coming. What did he have up his sleeve?

He kneeled down to a drawer underneath his desk that she hadn't even noticed before, and pulled it open, revealing a can of Blue Hawaiian coffee! "Oh man, you've got Blue Hawaiian here!!" She said, wistfully and obviously a bit too loudly as he shushed her and slapped a hand over her mouth, glancing out the windows.

"Shh! This is our little secret, eh? Just between us interns." He said, smiling mischievously and returning the coffee to its drawer, shutting it. "If the others find out about it, they'll try to steal it. You're not the only one who loves coffee. Now…they should be heading off on their assignments soon, so we'll have the lab to ourselves. We can enjoy it without worry about being found." She grinned, feeling rather that she was going to enjoy working with Greg.

"So, Amanda, since we'll be working together, tell me a bit about yourself." He asked, and she turned away, looking at the machinery, trying to think of a way to avoid the question.

"You can call me Mandy." She said, first off, then continued. "This is a PCR machine, right? Polymarase Chain Reaction, used for examining very small samples of DNA." She said, as an attempt to change the subject, which he picked up on.

"Ya, that's right." He stood up, and started walking around the lab, pointing out the various machinery, and deciding not to push her into talking about herself. Some people didn't like to talk about themselves right away, and he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. "Oh yes, and just to warn you, I may be a bit territorial at first. I'm not used to having to share my lab, but with you, I'll make an exception." They exchanged grins, and then they saw the five CSIs head off down the hallway and out the door. The mischievous look on Mandy's face was so much like his own that they both had to laugh as they fished out the coffee and the coffee pot, turned on the rock music, and relaxed.

((reads the introductory chapter Wow…I actually made a really long chapter…Oo…I'll try to keep up this length, but no guarantees…Please Read and Review, I'd appreciate it!! Next chapter will probably be up soon!!))


	2. Sampling Friendship

Chapter 2

It didn't take long for Mandy to become comfortable hanging out with Greg, and soon she was drumming on the desk with some pens while he did air-guitar to the music they had blaring out of the boom-box. When the music stopped, they both looked up, and Mandy's face turned a crimson colour as they saw Grissom standing in the doorway, finger on the pause button, eyebrow raised. She quickly smoothed her hair, which had gone wild from their little 'party'.

"Nice to know our interns don't waste their time…" Grissom said, which caused Mandy's face to go another shade redder. Greg, however, shrugged nonchalantly, as if it happened all the time. Grissom handed him a swab. "Epithelial, get the DNA profile." He said, then left without another word, tapping the pause button on his way out, causing the music to blare through the room again. Greg sat down in his wheelie chair, wheeling around and tapping the stop button on the boom-box on his way back, stopping the music.

"No more music until later, unfortunately…come on, I'll show you how this works." She slid over, banging chairs with him and nearly falling over, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the machinery. "Careful…"

She watched as he started the procedure, leaning back in her chair, listening as he outlined it for her. Mostly she just sat there and nodded, but managed to keep her temper. Finally, he closed the machine and glanced at her, winking and grinning mischievously.

"Now, you get the honour of pressing the Start button…" He said, pushing out of the way with a exaggerated bow. She rolled her eyes, but grinned and leaned over, pushing the start button with a flourish.

"Voila!" She said, then spun her chair around the room, grinning as Greg double-checked to make sure she'd pressed the right button, which she had, then pushed over to the radio and pushing play once more.

"Yup, and now we can listen to our music until it's done, which may take a while." He said, spinning over to join her in the middle of the room, so that they were doing a bizarre spinning chair dance, Mandy holding onto the arm of his chair and he holding onto her arm to keep themselves from getting disconnected and flying into the equipment. Definitely not a good idea, as they would be responsible for the damages.

"Guys…what are you doing…?" Came a voice from the door, and the music was stopped. Dizzy, Mandy tried to stop, and so did Greg, resulting in a very abrupt stop, giving them both sore necks. She blinked, trying to bring the figure at the door into focus, and eventually recognized the strawberry blonde Catherine.

"Waiting for the DNA testing to be done, and you do know, we need something to compare it to…do you have any suspects yet?" He said, and Catherine shook her head, leaning against the door, not even recognizing that Mandy was there.

"Run it through CODIS for me, would you, Greg? Let me know when you're finished." She then left, tapping the music on her way out, leaving Mandy feeling rather put out. She rolled the chair over, stopping the music as Greg tapped a couple buttons on the computer, so that as soon as the profile was complete, it would get run through CODIS.

"Why is it that nobody seems to even notice me around here? It's like they don't want me around or something…" She asked, and Greg looked up from the computer and shook his head, his normally bright smile transformed into the closest to a frown Greg had ever gotten.

"It's not that they don't want you around…it's just…" He trailed off, thinking. Should he tell her? No…what if she got scared, and decided to leave? "They just don't like new people joining their little 'team'. Don't worry, once they warm up to you, they'll get better." He said, smiling a winning smile. She smiled back, her worries settled for the time being.

Before anything else was said, Nick was in the doorway, and shoved an evidence bag into her hands, as she was closest. "Amanda, I need those two samples tested, tell me if they match, alright?" Before she could respond, he was gone, on his way to the evidence room to examine the rest of what he and Warrick had collected. She stared after him, her mouth half-opened, then turned to Greg with a raised eyebrow. He started laughing hysterically at her expression, which was the perfect blend of confusion and irritation.

"Don't let it bother you, they always do that. At least you're being noticed." He said, once he had composed himself. She rolled her eyes and carried the envelope over to the machine, which was finished with the other sample. Opening the envelope, she carefully pulled out the two swabs. "Do you need help?" Greg asked, and she glanced up, frowning slightly, and opened her mouth to say no, but didn't get a chance to finish, as Greg walked over.

"Don't worry about it, I'll guide you through it, since it's your first time." He carefully started showing her slowly what to do, but this time he let her do almost everything. When they finished, she tried to remember everything he'd told her, and began to wish she had written it all down. Seeing her expression, Greg grinned and nudged her shoulder gently.

"I'll run through it again next time…" He said reassuringly, and she smiled, taking a seat in the chair, and suddenly there was a loud beeping noise. They both turned to the computer, which was beeping, showing that CODIS had found a match. Greg walked over, followed by Mandy, who leaned over his shoulder as he sat down to check it out. "Better go find Catherine. You stay here and wait for the your samples to be done." He pulled out the paper from the printer and headed out the door with a final wink and a blow-kiss. She rolled her eyes, and he laughed, giving a final wave as he disappeared out the door, paper in hand, blue lab coat flapping. She sighed, twirling in her chair, and considered making herself some of Greg's coffee, then decided it was better not to risk getting caught.

With nothing else to do, she let her mind wander, and, after a lot of irrelevant thoughts, it finally settled on deciding exactly what she thought of Greg. He was…nice, funny, and definitely a character. Suddenly she straightened, and leaned against the desk, her mind beginning on an internal debate. The last time she'd let someone get to know her, she'd ended up getting hurt. In more ways than one. Mainly mentally and emotionally though.

No…she'd never get close to anyone again…it hurt too much. Suddenly her eyes were covered from behind and the now-familiar voice of Greg came from behind her. "Guess who?" She rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs lightly so that he let go. "It's Greggo!" He said, grinning and spreading his arms as if awaiting applause and looked a bit disappointed when she snorted and started laughing.

"Fine, Miss. Unimpressed, your samples are done." He snatched the paper from the printer and handed it to her, and, seeing that it was a match, she stood up to go find Nick, but he walked in right as she was walking out, snatching the paper from her.

"Thanks Amanda, appreciate it!" He said and left, leaving her a bit blown over. She blinked, then turned to Greg.

"Are they psychic or something?" She asked, then broke into a grin, and they both started laughing at the thought of the CSIs being psychic.

"Nah, they just have good timing." He said, and grinned. "Plus I told him that it was almost done when I saw him on my way back from getting Catherine." She rolled her eyes, but grinned indulgently. For the first time, she actually noticed what colour Greg's hair was. Spiky blonde-streaked brown. It looked nice.

"So…now what?" She asked, sitting down in her chair again, and spinning around. Greg shrugged, and turned on his rock music, but this time they refrained from starting rocking.

((Ya…I know…horrible way to end a chapter, but I can't think of anything else to write at this exact moment…hope it's alright…thanks to all my reviewers! You guys are the best! I'll try to update again soon!!))


	3. Bad Days and Silly Activities

Chapter 3

((Hey, hey, all my fans!! XD I love saying that. Anyway, hi everyone, finally updating! Hope everyone had a marvellous Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Hanukkah…Kwanzaa…whatever…anyway, gotta write now…))

It had been just a little more than a week since Amanda's first day, and Greg still hadn't learned much about her or her past. If he mentioned it, even casually, she'd clam up, pretending to be totally absorbed in whatever she was doing, whether it was processing DNA or reading a magazine.

Amanda, however, had learned lots about her new partner. In fact, it was usually hard to get Greg to shut up, he always had his little tidbits, quotes or obscure facts that he had altered and loved to put into the most random of situations. She liked it, actually; it made the day a bit less tedious.

She'd also gotten to know a little bit about her other co-workers, although she felt as if they weren't warming up to her at all. Especially Warrick, who she'd tried to talk to a couple times, just to be friendly, and he'd brushed her off, never making eye contact, and she was getting the distinct feeling that what Greg had said had not been entirely accurate.

However, she didn't bring it up, not wanting to sound like a complainer. They'd warm up eventually, and in any case, she always had Greg to put her in an absolutely wonderful mood. It was amazing the power he had to make her laugh, no matter how down she was. For example, her fourth day of working there, she'd come in downright miserable. Her tires had been stolen, right from her car, so she'd had to walk to work, since she didn't know where the bus stops were yet. Halfway to work it had started to rain, and she'd gotten soaked, and to top it all off, a car had splashed mud all over her brand new outfit. Screaming insults at the offending car hadn't really done much except given her a sore throat, which only added to her miseries.

She'd trudged into the lab ten minutes late, resulting in Grissom giving her a small telling-off, and, after dumping her soaked purse into her locker, she had sighed, knowing that she had no time to shower, and that her outfit was totally ruined for the day, with mud all over it.

The second she'd walked in, Greg, seeing her outfit, her depressed face, and hearing her hoarse voice, had immediately set to work cheering her up, although he nearly got them both in trouble. He used his computer to put various members of the CSI team in humorous outfits. For instance, he put Grissom in a frilly pink dress, which had done it for her. They'd laughed for a full five minutes, and nearly got caught by Grissom himself, but Greg managed to close the screen in time.

Today, however, she was in a good mood, and Greg's services were not needed. Not that he didn't make her laugh anyway, but this time he didn't do it on purpose. For some reason, everything seemed twice as funny when she was around Greg, although she only noticed it subconsciously, and it never entered her waking thoughts.

The night was relatively light, since there had so far been only one DNA sample to process, and Greg had taken it, although she'd offered to. That left the rest of the night for them to just sit back and chat, in a relaxed atmosphere, and the easy familiarity that they'd already developed. Eventually, Sara walked in to get the sample from Greg, interrupting the conversation rather abruptly. Knowing that there was no point trying to engage Sara in conversation when she was hot on the trail in a case, Mandy remained quiet, spinning slowly back and forth in her chair.

As Sara walked out, Greg watched her, and he smiled softly before turning back to Mandy. "Hey Mandy?" He asked and she looked up. "Do you think Sara would ever go out with me?" As he asked this, something deep inside her seemed to collapse, and she couldn't answer for a moment.

"Of course, why wouldn't she?" She said, finally, sounding sincere despite the fact that she was still trying to figure out why she felt so sad all of a sudden. "I mean, you're funny, you're smart, you're charming, gentle, sweet…" She immediately clammed up, knowing that she had better shut up now before she got carried away. "I mean, she's got all reason to, I bet…I bet she would." She nodded, smiling a bit and Greg looked exhilarated.

"Awesome…maybe I'll ask her tomorrow..." He was leaning back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling, obviously day-dreaming about what his date with Sara would be like. Mandy sighed, feeling rather sad all of a sudden. _What, did you think he liked you? Just because he makes you laugh and cheers you up, doesn't mean he likes you that way…he was just being a good friend. _She started doodling on a blank piece of paper, drawing stars and random squiggles, until Greg came back from his day-dream.

"Yup, I am definitely going to ask her tomorrow…" He said, grinning widely at her, obviously expecting her to share in his happiness, which she tried to do, smiling weakly before standing up. She suddenly felt the need to be alone.

"I'll be right back…I've got to use the little girl's room…" She said, trying to be light, which ended up sounding rather flat, and then she left before he could get a chance to answer. She pushed into the washroom, leaning on the sink, staring in the mirror at herself. _What's the matter with me? Why does this make me so upset? So he's going to ask Sara out on a date ,big deal…_ Sighing, she massaged her forehead a bit, leaning her elbows on the counter. She sat there like that for maybe five minutes, then stood up, going to head back towards the lab, a smile plastered on her face, even if it wasn't real.

She managed to make it through the rest of the day, mostly because Greg had picked up that she was sad about something, and of course, administered his favourite cure: Make you laugh until your sides hurt and you get teary. It worked for the most part, since she shoved whatever was making her sad to the back of her mind until later, when she could think about it fully. Her car still didn't have tires, they wouldn't come in until at least a few weeks, which meant she had to ride the bus. She was seriously angry at whoever it was who had stolen her tires. Unfortunately, it obviously wasn't a big enough crime for anyone to pay it that much attention for more than a couple days.

As she walked out of the lab, she sighed, flipping her hair over her shoulder. She was tired, having had a stressful night. As soon as she'd come back, both Grissom and Warrick had appeared with a lot of experiments for them to conduct, plus they were pressuring them to finish quickly, which she hated, and she'd been busy right up until the end of her shift, and she'd even had to work about ten minutes overtime. Finally finished, she had left, only to remember that she still had to walk about ten minutes down a dark street to get to the bus stop.

Sighing, she started her walk, keeping a tight clasp on her purse, sure that at any time someone was going to leap at her from the shadows. Cars passed every so often, and she was a bit paranoid that one of them was going to stop and someone was going to leap out and kidnap her. So it was that she nearly had a heart attack when someone called to her from a passing car.

"Mandy! Hey, Mandy!" She turned, having recognized the voice, to see Greg waving at her from the driver's seat of his car, which had just slowed down alongside her to match her quick walking speed. "You shouldn't be walking along here alone, it's dangerous…come on, hop in, I'll give you a lift home." She smiled weakly at him, although it was rather forced, and thought for a moment before finally hopping in to the passenger seat.

"Thanks." She murmured, feeling really uncomfortable for the first time since she'd met Greg. "Pineview Crescent" She muttered, and he smiled at her, making her heart do an inexplicable jump up into her throat, and she cleared her throat, smiling back at him.

"You should have told me your car isn't running yet, you can't walk along this road every day, do you have any idea how dangerous this road is? You could be kidnapped, you could be mugged, hell, you could be _murdered_. You know what, I'm going to drive you home every day until your car is fixed, am I clear?" He said, sounding almost like a parent, and she raised an eyebrow at him. "What? I'm serious, do you have any idea how many murders have taken place along this road? Well, a lot!"

"I appreciate that you're looking out for me, Greg, but won't it be out of your way to drive me home everyday?" She asked tentatively, not wanting to lose the opportunity to not take the bus anymore. "My new tires won't be in for a couple weeks…" She trailed off, seeing that Greg was nodding fervently.

"It's fine, stop worrying." He said, and she laughed. "What?"

"Me worrying? You're the one who just gave me a lecture about walking down dark streets at night!" She said, smiling at him, and before he could protest, she added. "And I really appreciate it…it's nice to know somebody's worried about me…"

Greg smiled, shrugging, and she quickly pointed out her street before he missed it. As they pulled into her driveway, she climbed out, but didn't close the door right away, wrestling with an inner thought. "Hey, Greg?" She said, and when he looked at her, she opened her mouth to ask if he wanted to come in, but then closed her mouth again, saying something completely different. "Thanks a lot…see you tomorrow…" She said finally, and then smiled, closing the door behind her and walking up to her door, waving and he waved back before backing out of her driveway and heading off to his own house, anticipating asking Sara out tomorrow, but for some reason feeling less excited then before. He couldn't figure out why, so he pushed it to the back of his mind and started singing along to a song he found on the radio.

((Fini! Yup, this is the next chapter in my little story. And if things are moving too fast, someone please tell me? I'm still new at this writing thing…))


	4. Making a Sacrifice

Internal Romances

Chapter 4

The next night was beautiful, if a bit chilly. After all, the Christmas season was upon them, with Christmas in only a few weeks, so everyone was beginning to get in a fairly good mood. Well, in comparison to how everyone had been acting towards her when she first arrived. Mandy had been unable to sleep, tossing and turning, thoughts flying around her head, never settling for contemplation for more than a few seconds before dissolving into mist.

Sighing, she yawned, walking into the lab, absolutely exhausted. She hadn't fallen asleep until something like five o'clock, and they she'd had to go to work for nine, leaving her about three hours of sleep. She'd nearly fallen asleep standing up in the bus on the way over, and was currently dreaming of the coffee she would find in the break room. No sugar or cream today, she wanted it black.

She walked into the break room, pouring whatever was in the coffeepot into the mug, and took a drink, nearly spewing it out as she found it to be, not coffee, but hot apple cider. "Great…no sleep, and now, no coffee…" She tried to find the coffee in the nearby drawers, but found none. "Why am I being tortured…?" She asked, looking up at the ceiling. Knowing that she had no choice, she looked around carefully, then scampered into the lab, looking around.

Greg moved his coffee around every few days, so now she was stuck with the challenge of finding it before he found her snooping around for it. She started going through the drawers and cupboards, and whacked her head a couple times, cursing loudly. Having looked in all the drawers, and finding nothing except some of Greg's magazines, which she hastily returned to the drawers. She pursed her lips, looking around, and finally spotted it on the top shelf. She stood up on tiptoe, reaching, and finally gave in and grabbed the chair, dragging it over.

"The one day I decide to wear heels…" She muttered irritably, and took off the shoes, placing them to the side, and climbed up onto the chair, making sure nobody was coming. She was wearing a dark black skirt and a white shirt, as well as nylons. She stretched her arm up as high as she could, leaving one hand on the back of the chair for balance, but was still just inches short of the coffee. Looking around to make sure nobody was coming, she let go with her hand, raising herself up onto her tiptoes. "God. Damn. It." She said angrily, as she was now brushing the bottom of the can, and stretched herself just a bit farther.

"My coffee!!" Came a fake shocked voice from the doorway, and Mandy jumped, losing her balance and starting to fall from the chair with a shriek, bracing herself for a hard landing, so she was surprised when two strong arms caught her before she hit the ground. "Saved your life!" Came Greg's voice, and she turned, eyes wide.

"Thanks." She said, flushing furiously. "Hey, you're a bit taller than me, you could probably…" She trailed off as he climbed up onto the chair, reaching the coffee with ease.

"There you go. Was it really worth risking your life just to get my coffee?" He asked, but didn't wait for an answer, as Mandy was already putting the coffee powder into the coffeepot, so he continued. "I'm going to ask Sara, as soon as she comes in…she'll be here, right about…now." Just as he said this, Sara went strolling past, and Greg winked, heading out the door.

She sighed, and took a sip of the steaming hot coffee, which suited to wake her up even more than the close contact with Greg had. Her heart had started pounding when she'd realized who it was who had caught her before she fell. Now, she had figured it out. He may have stopped her falling physically, but it was way too late to stop her from falling in love.

Only ten minutes later, there was the sound of the lab door opening, and she turned, fully expecting to see Greg start dancing around, laughing like a little kid. Instead, she saw Greg moping into the lab, and sitting at the table, resting his head on the table, sighing sadly. Feeling both sad for her friend and just a bit guiltily happy that he was obviously turned down, she couldn't decide between being overly sympathetic and being sarcastic. In the end, she chose what was stronger, which was the sadness to see her friend in such misery. She walked over to the down lab-tech and gently patted his back.

"She said no, huh?" She said after a moment, and he nodded, sighing heartbrokenly, but before she could start her sympathetic act, he started speak, each voice dripping with unhappiness.

"Flat-out rejection…said I was too immature for her…I bet she'd rather go out with a corpse than with me…" Mandy winced inwardly, and sighed, looking at his heart-broken face. "You really like her, huh?" She asked, and he nodded, and she put one arm around his shoulders gently, and an absurd idea entered her head as she looked at his sad face. She hated, with a passion, seeing her friends sad, and especially hated seeing Greg sad. So could she help him get what he loved…and in the process give up what she loved? If it would make Greg happy…she could do it.

"I gotta go, uh…run some tests…just…don't do anything stupid, alright?" She said weakly, then gave him one last reassuring pat on his back before turning and walking out the door and down the hall, knowing where Sara would be. Finding her in the evidence room, she cleared her throat, tapping on the doorframe, causing her to look up. "Hey Sara, uh…need any help?" She asked lamely, and walked in, even though Sara shook her head.

"No, I'm fine, thanks…" She said, but Mandy didn't leave. "What do you want then?" Sara asked, seeing as she was still there.

"I was just thinking…about how lucky you are…" When Sara looked at her strangely, she continued, every part of her wanting to take the words back. "I mean, you've got a great guy who totally loves you…wish I had that…" Sara looked at her like she was crazy, and, seeing as she was going to have to be blunt, she added. "Greg!"

"Greg? Oh come on, Mandy, he's way too immature for me…" She said, turning back to her evidence, and after a few seconds in which Mandy counted down the seconds in her head. "Plus, he doesn't totally love me…it's just a crush…"

"I'm not so sure about that…" She said, and made as if she were about to leave, but of course, she heard Sara call her back, obviously to object.

"Wait, wait, what do you mean?" She asked, and Mandy tried to look innocent, wanting to take it back, even if she knew it was true. "What makes you think it's more than a crush?"

"Oh…just how he's always talking about you…and you know, he's not that immature…I've seen another side of him, he just puts it on in front of you to impress you." She was lying a bit through her teeth now, Greg was childish almost all the way through, but she was fairly sure she could coach him about how to act like a mature adult. He'd listen, if he wanted to impress Sara…oh, how she hated thinking that… "You are lucky…a lot of girls would love to have someone who loves them so much…" She said, trying to sound casual, examining her fingernails.

Sara didn't say anything, and Mandy walked out, watching warily. Just a few seconds later, Sara had placed down her evidence and was heading towards the lab, to both her triumph and her annoyance. Well, it had worked. Waiting a good five minutes, she then began to casually head back towards the lab, just long enough to see Sara heading out. Taking a deep breath, she plastered a calm, fairly happy expression on her face and walked into the lab, and was nearly bowled over as Greg went dancing by her.

"Oh, sorry Mandy, but you will never guess what just happened!" Before she could pretend to hazard a guess, he kept going. "Sara agreed to go out with me!! I'm picking her up tomorrow for dinner, because it's our day off!" She watched him for a moment, then raised her voice so that he could hear her above his dancing.

"That's great, Greg…where are you going to take her?" He paused, thinking about it. "I don't know…just out for coffee or whatever…" She shook her head, which made him stop totally. "What? What's wrong with that?" He said, and when she bit her lip, he moved closer, staring suspiciously at her. "What?"

Regretting every word, she kept going, trying to sound casual. "Well, I mean…why don't you take her to a sit-down restaurant? I heard that new Italian place is great…and some flowers for her would be nice…" She said, and Greg was nodding, as if thinking. "Also, when you give them to her, say that you bought them because they're beautiful, just like her. And make sure to compliment her during the meal. Her eyes, her outfit, her hair, anything will do." He nodded again, and grinned.

"Hey, I could use a female telling me how to impress the fair sex…not that I need the help, of course…so, what kind of conversation should I make? Should I talk about work, or hobbies, or what?" He asked, and she bit her lip, as if thinking, but really she was just steeling herself to strike the final blow to her own heart.

"I'd talk about lots of things…let the conversation go on it's own, I can't script it for you…" She said, and he nodded again, glancing at the clock. "Well, shift is over, so…good luck…I'll see you the day after tomorrow…" With that, she left, with his final thanks over her shoulder. She sat in the locker room, staring at her opened locker, for about ten minutes, feeling sick, then sighed, grabbing her coat, and left, wishing that life would be more fair.

((I'm so sorry it took so long to update guys, I've been busy with exams and stuff at school…anyway, I'll try to update more often now!!))


	5. Enduring the Pain

Chapter 5

The entire next day was worse than usual. So much of Mandy's mind was thinking about Greg and Sara's date that she nearly got hit by the bus, nearly walked into a pole and, worst of all, nearly contaminated the evidence she was processing, and was only caught by Nick who was waiting for her to finish. When he'd asked what was on her mind, she'd just shrugged absently, not able to answer and he hadn't pressed her…or maybe he just didn't care enough to ask past that. Mandy didn't know and she didn't want to know.

Leaving the crime lab, she remembered to her great annoyance (and a bit of fear) that she now had to walk the dark street to the bus stop, without Greg around to drive her home. Since it was almost an hour past the end of shift (she'd had to work overtime) there was nobody around she could ask for a ride home. Sighing, she squared her shoulders, flipped her brown hair over her shoulders, and set off, keeping up a fast pace.

About halfway to the crime lab, she passed by a few guys, who looked at her 'inappropriately', but didn't approach her, and she sped up her pace, glancing over her shoulders to make sure that they remained where they were. When she finally reached the usually well-lit bus stop, she found the light burnt out…or was it broken on purpose? _No, stop being paranoid…just because that's what happened to that girl, that the light was broken and they she was attacked, raped and murdered…no, that's no reason to be paranoid…not at all…oh thank god, there's the bus._

Sitting at the very back of the bus, she let the lights from out the window wash over her slowly, like waves hitting the shore of the distant ocean. Her dark blue eyes were blank, like a deep pool in the middle of a dark forest. Suddenly something out the window made her snap back into reality, and she nearly pressed her face to the glass. There were Greg and Sara, walking down the street and…they were holding hands and laughing…for a moment she thought she was mistaking them for someone else, but there could be no mistake. Greg's hair stood out from the crowd, and she knew that if it hadn't been for her tips, he would not have made such a good impression. Feeling suddenly sick, she slunk down in the seat, holding her face in her hands. Greg and Sara were happy…but where did that leave her?

-------------------------------------The Next Night----------------------------------------------------

Mandy got to work early the next night and sat in the lab, twirling slowly in her chair, staring blankly at the piece of paper in front of her. There was nothing written on it, just random squiggles and doodles, and (suspiciously) a couple of broken hearts. Now she had to just live through an entire day that was sure to be filled with Greg rambling on and on about how wonderful a date it had been.

Suddenly there was a soft knock at the door and Mandy swiveled, startled to see that there was somebody else other than her there from the night shift. It was Catherine and she held forward an envelope, smiling one of the first real smiles she'd ever directed at her. Had she not been the only one in the room, she might have thought she was smiling at someone else.

"Hey Mandy, here, this is an invitation to the annual night shift Christmas party. I'm in charge of organizing it…again…it's at my house, on Christmas Eve" Catherine said, and Mandy, startled to be both actually called by her nickname for once and also to be invited in such a friendly manner, took the invitation, smiling. "I was hoping you could help me out with the Secret Santa and decorations…?" Mandy blinked for a moment, not realizing she was asking for her help.

"Uh, sure Catherine, I'd love to help!" Mandy said, when she'd finally recovered, and Catherine grinned. "Uh, just give me a time and place and I'll be there…" An even wider grin and she felt glad that she'd brightened her day.

"Great, oh and can you give Greg his invite when he comes in? Don't bother asking him about decorations…I wouldn't trust Greg to decorate my house, considering his taste in shirts…" They shared a knowledgeable look and Mandy nodded, taking Greg's invitation. "Thanks Mandy, I appreciate it!"

With that, Catherine walked off, obviously to find more night shifts to invite, and Mandy stared at her retreating back for a moment before turning her attention to the invitation. Opening the envelope carefully, so as not to rip what was enclosed, she finally pulled out a bright red piece of paper, folded in half. She glanced at the front, which read her name and the words: _You are invited…_ After a moment, she opened it, reading the inside, which said:

…_To the Night Shift Christmas Bash!_

_When: Christmas Eve 7pm – 2am_

_Where: Catherine's house (RSVP for directions)  
Dress Code: Guys must wear some sort of suits and Girls must wear dresses_

_RSVP: Speak to Catherine_

_Dates Optional_

Mandy re-read it a couple times before carefully replacing it in it's envelope and placing the envelope in her 'section' of the desk, which consisted of about a three square foot area of desk and one drawer. Remembering that she still held Greg's, she placed it on his part of the desk, which was about three times the size of hers, with at least five drawers plus some cupboards. As you can imagine, it had been him who had split it up, and, as she didn't really need much space, she hadn't complained.

Before she could think to do anything else, Greg had burst through the door, picked her up by the waist and spun her in a circle, laughing like a maniac. "Mandy, you are the best! The date went great and all thanks to your tips! I don't know how I'll ever re-pay you, but I swear I will!" Slightly winded by the unexpected flight through the air, she didn't get a chance to respond and he didn't really give her a chance, attention immediately being drawn to the red envelope sitting on his desk.

"That's an invitation. Catherine gave it to me to give to you. Night Shift Christmas party." She explained, watching as he opened the envelope and read the invitation for himself. "So are you going to go? I am."

"Christmas Eve…Christmas Eve…that's in…that's in…" A couple of seconds of thinking, then he came up with the answer. "That's in only a week and a half…hmm…do you know if Sara is here yet?" Knowing what he had planned, she shook her head honestly.

"Not yet…" Seeing his frustrated look, she turned to her supposed work, which wasn't anything, and continued after a moment. "You should probably wait until she gets her invitation before you ask her. Don't rush things too much…maybe even wait until tomorrow…" He was nodding, as if not at all surprised that she had already guessed his idea.

"But what if someone – " He started, but was cut off sharply as Sara walked into the room, and he probably forgot all about whatever he was asking as Sara grinned at them. Mandy forced a smile back before returning to filling out a report, which she should have been doing before shift started. "Hey Sara, what brings you to my – excuse me, our – humble lab?"

"Well Greg, I was just recruited by Catherine to make sure that everybody got their invitations to the Christmas bash…did you guys get yours?" Glad that for once she'd been included in a question, Mandy looked up and smiled, nodding her head without answering. Greg, however, was more detailed in his answer.

"Why yes, I did receive the lovely crimson envelope on my desk this morning, courtesy of Catherine's other message service over there. And I was also wondering if you – " He was cut off sharply as Mandy kicked his shin under the desk, but he disguised it as a cough, looking at her strangely, and she discreetly shook her head. " – was wondering if you'd gotten recruited as well…I guess you have…" Sara gave him a bit of a look, then she laughed a bit, and nodded.

"Yeah, well, she almost recruited me for decorating committee as well, but I resisted on that count…" After a second where everybody grinned except for Mandy, who kept her head down at her desk, pretending to be writing when about seventy-five percent of her mind was on the conversation around her, Sara said something about having to go get her assignment. She sounded, to Mandy's horror, almost awkward. A sure sign that she was beginning to fall for Greg.

As soon as Sara was out of hearing range, Greg turned to her and, of course, began to regale her with requests for advice. "When should I ask her? Should I be up-front about it or sort of approach it slowly? Should I go up to her when she's by herself or ask her when she's with a group?"

Sighing, Mandy broke away from her supposed report, and answered his questions unwillingly. "Ask her before she leaves, and be sure to find her alone, not with a group. Up-front or slowly depends on the person, with Sara…I'd try a mixture." With that, she returned to her report and Greg looked at her curiously.

"Hey, is everything ok, Mandy? You seem kind of uptight…" He asked, and she didn't answer, wanting to cry right then and there, knowing that, for one thing, Greg and Sara would be going to the Christmas bash together, and, for another, that she wouldn't have a date because she wouldn't have the heart to ask anyone else.

"Everything is just fine…I just…didn't get a lot of sleep, that's all." A straight-out lie, she'd slept like a baby last night, although her pillow had been wet with a few tears. "By the way, I'm on the decorating committee and in charge of Secret Santa…I'll make sure there's lots of mistletoe, make sure to end up under it at some point with Sara, and as for Secret Santa…there's not much I can do about that, but if you get her, tell me…" She forced a smile onto her face, as if she were doing this as a little favour, and he gave her a great big grin.

"You rock, Mandy…easily the best person I've ever shared my lab with…" He said, and it was heartfelt, and she nodded, looking back down at her report, suddenly forgetting what she'd been writing and having a lump in her throat. "Hey, I thought of what I can do to repay you…I'll set you up with a date for the party! Who do you like? Name anyone! Nick's free at the moment, and so is Warrick, as far as I know…or then there's Archie, you know him, right? Or Bobby, the gun guy? Name any guy, and I can get him to ask you out. I just got to name your good points, and there's lots to choose from." Grinning at her, she opened her mouth, startled at this offer, and knowing exactly who she wanted to go with…but seeing as he was taken by Sara at the moment…

"Uh, I'm not sure…give me a few days to think about it…" By then, she should be able to come up with some suitable replacement…or at least someone to escort her to the actual party.

"Alright, that's a deal, and I'm going to keep pestering you!" He smiled at her and Mandy smiled back, and finally managed to commit her full attention (or at least most of it) to her report, finishing it off. Greg, noting that she seemed to be in a rather dismal mood, didn't talk to her, letting her work on her tests in silence, as she thought about how she was going to keep Greg from finding out how she felt…

((There! I know, it's been a while since I last updated, but I swear, I'll try to update more often from now on. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it was a little…bleh, but I'm trying not to rush things…Later!))


	6. The Party

Chapter 6

"Maaaandy…yoohoo…wakey wakey…" Came a voice drifting into her subconscious and she snorted a bit, opening her eyes sleepily, blinking up at the familiar face that swam in and out of focus. "What are you doing here?" The voice asked again as he saw that she was awake.

"Wha?" Mandy answered, her voice muffled in the cushion of her pillow. Or…a pillow. Why was her mattress so hard all of a sudden? Better question, what was Greg doing in her house? Sitting up to ask him this, she looked around and realised she wasn't even at her house, but in the lab, and somehow her head had ended up on a pillow, on the counter. "What's going on?" Amanda asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes a bit to clear the sleep out of them.

"I was just about to ask you that. Decided to take up residence in the lab?" Greg asked, laughing a bit at her confused look. "Seriously, what are you still doing here?" He asked, looking concerned as he looked at the dark circles under eyes that had seen very little sleep the past week.

"I had to stay overtime…lots of evidence to process…I was about to go home when Ecklie shoved me with some more stuff to do, so – oh crap, Ecklie's stuff, I fell asleep before I finished it, he's going to kill me!" She stood up, only to find the DNA samples she'd been testing weren't in the machine and started looking frantically around before Greg stopped her.

"Woah, woah, calm down…I finished up your samples and gave them to Ecklie. Are you saying you've been here 24 hours straight without a break or sleep? When did you fall asleep?" He asked, and she blinked, trying to remember the last time she remembered. She'd put the samples in the machine, and glanced at her watch to approximate what time it would be done, then put her head down to wait…that was nine o'clock at night.

"Nine-ish…" She muttered, provoking a gasp from Greg. "Why? What time is it?" She asked, glancing at her watch to see that it was only ten thirty, which meant she'd only had an hour and a half of sleep. In fact, for the past week, she'd only had about four hours of sleep in total, what with either overtime or stress keeping her up until the late hours.

Looking at the dark circles under Mandy's eyes, and the mussed-up look of her hair and clothes, Greg made a decision and collected up her stuff. "Mandy, you're going home. You need the night off, you're over-working yourself." He said, and she blinked at him, then started to protest, but was cut off. "No buts, you are going home. I'll tell Grissom, you need a night off. Go home. Sleep a bit. You look like death, and I don't think that will instil a lot of confidence into anyone. Besides, the party is in only a few days, you don't want to get sick and miss it, do you?" Giving up, Mandy took her stuff, and smiled weakly.

"Thanks Greg, I guess I could use some rest…" Mandy said and gave him a light kiss on the cheek, which was way short of what she wanted from him, but it was all she could do while she knew he was involved with Sara. "Goodnight…I'll see you tomorrow." She said, smiling as she carried her stuff towards the locker room, keeping it on even as Sara walked past her. Greg had finally coaxed a name out of her for someone to take her to dance and she'd just said a random co-worker named Trent, knowing him as a nice guy, so she smiled and waved at him as she passed, and he grinned and waved back. He wasn't Greg, but since Greg was unavailable…he was good enough, she supposed, though she felt guilty about taking a guy she didn't have any interest in to the party.

Climbing into her car, which had finally been returned to her, she started her drive home, burdened with the thought of the party in a few days. There was also the reminder that she had to buy a present for Warrick for Secret Santa, plus go to Catherine's house three hours before the actual party to help decorate and set-up. Plus, on top of all of that, she didn't even have an outfit for the party yet, and was on a tight budget.

Letting out her air in a long breath, she pulled into her driveway, practically hearing her bed calling her name. God, she was exhausted, Greg was right…as always…sighing, she shook her head, climbing out and heading towards her home.

-Back at the lab-

Greg put one hand up to his cheek, smiling slightly and watching Mandy's retreating back until it was gone, whispering an almost hoarse "Goodnight" which hadn't even been heard. Dazed about something, but not sure what, he shook his head solemnly, taking a seat at the lab table, spinning, lazily doodling on a blank piece of paper. It was a few seconds before he realised he'd drawn a heart and half of Mandy's name and quickly scribbled it out, looking around frantically, sure that Sara had seen. Shaking his head more violently, he scratched his forehead, wondering what was with him.

Mandy was put (temporarily) out of his mind as Sara appeared in the doorway, and he smiled warmly. "Hey Sar, what's up?" He relished being able to call her Sar. She'd never let him before…before…_before Mandy came along and changed everything._ He reminded himself, and pondered why the sudden hang-up over Mandy. It was just gratitude, that's all…

"What's up is that I've been convinced to help decorate Catherine's house, and you have to come with me." She said, coming over and twirling a strand of his hair around her finger as she perched on the arm of his chair. _Mandy will be decorating at Catherine's house too…_said a sly little voice in his head, which he found difficult to ignore.

"Sure, I'd love to help…tell Cath that she can count on me!" He said enthusiastically and she smiled a wide gap-toothed grin and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Not the cheek Mandy had kissed, and now he had something to compare…not that he _would _of course.

"Great, I've got to go now, I'll talk to you later!" She said, and hurried off to get her assignments, leaving Greg grinning, Mandy now settled in the back of his mind for later contemplation.

-Night of the Party-

Mandy had a bag holding her outfit over her shoulder as she parked her car in the driveway of Catherine's home, almost as nervous as when she'd had her first day of being a CSI. Hopefully today was going to be more hospitable than that day. Walking up to the door, she rang the doorbell, shifting uneasily, hoping that this was the right house, that some stranger was not going to answer the door. Suddenly the door opens, and for a moment, she thought that the door was possessed, before she noticed the little blonde head poking out from behind it. Looked like a mini-Catherine. Smiling at her, she kneeled so that she was at her level, and she started to talk.

"Are you here to help Mommy decorate the house? 'Cause she said there were people coming over to help her turn this hell - " "Lindsay!" A shocked and obviously embarrassed voice came from farther in and Catherine quickly came over, with a towel wrapped around her, and her hair wet, and clamped a hand over her daughter's mouth. "Hey Mandy, you're right on time, come on in. Linds, will you be a sweetie and show Amanda to the party room while Mommy gets dressed?" Lindsay nodded and took Amanda's hand, pulling her gently along, and Mandy grinned at Catherine, who was shaking her head and smiling, giving Linds retreating back one of those frustrated yet adoring looks that only a mother can give.

"Is your name Amanda?" Lindsay asked, and Mandy nodded. "That's a really pretty name. You're really pretty too. I'm Lindsay." Mandy, trying to keep up with Lindsay's childish rambling, smiled and nodded.

"Why thank you Lindsay…you know, Lindsay is a really pretty name. I bet you, that you grow up to be a really beautiful young lady." She'd never been the best with kids, but she gave it her best shot and it seemed to please Lindsay, who started swivelling her hips a bit. Mandy had to stifle a laugh, knowing that Lindsay would go from happy-go-lucky to piping angry at a moment's notice. Most kids did.

"This is the party room." She said, and Mandy looked around the large empty room that would be more than enough to fit all the nightshift and the DJ. "That's the decorating stuff, right there." Lindsay continued, pointing to a bag, which Mandy saw, upon closer inspection, was full of green and red. Green and red streamers, green and red balloons, and lots of holly and mistletoe.

"Wow, you're mom went all-out…" She said to Lindsay, who had followed her over to the table. Glancing around, she could see that the DJ had already been and gone, having set up his table on a small up-raised platform, with lots of CDs to play. The snack table was sitting against one wall, just waiting for lots of punch and food to be put on it. Glancing down at the innocent blue eyes staring up at her, Mandy smiled. "Hey Linds, you want to help me start decorating?" She asked and was rewarded with an excited squeal and violent nods. Cute kid.

"Alright, you're going to take this end of the streamer and I'm going to take this end and we're going to stretch it all the way across the floor, alright?" Mandy said, and Lindsay nodded, grabbing the end of the bright red streamer and dashing off, and nearly ripping the streamer. Rolling her eyes, but smiling, Mandy pulled the other end so that the entire roll was stretched out across the massive expanse of floor. Then they pulled the green roll across as well and twisted the two together. Pulling a huge ladder across the floor, she put Lindsay in charge of handing her pieces of masking tape as she reached up high and taped the twisted pieces of streamer to the ceiling, letting pieces droop down nicely. Grinning at Lindsay, they high-fived each other when they were finished.

"Nice job, partner." Mandy said, and Lindsay laughed. Picking up a piece of mistletoe, Mandy looked around for somewhere to put it, then glanced at Lindsay and grinned, dangling the leaves over her, making puckering noises. "Kissy Kissy!" Lindsay squealed and soon Mandy was chasing her around the room, and just as she caught her and was swinging her around with Lindsay giving high-pitched squeals of glee, there was the sound of a throat being cleared from the door. Turning, with Lindsay upside down in her arms, Mandy grinned sheepishly at Catherine, whose eyebrow was raised, then carefully set Lindsay down right side up.

"I see you two have been having fun…" Catherine said, but couldn't keep the stern look on her face as she looked at Lindsay and heard her giggles. "Alright, we've got to get down to the business. I finally convinced Sara to come and help too, but she only agreed if Greg would come, so they should be here any minute…" Mandy cleared her throat suddenly, and started hanging up mistletoe in various places as the doorbell rang, heart pounding in her chest. She hadn't expected to have to listen to Greg and Sara giggling until the party started, and now she had to live with an aching heart for an extra three hours. Sighing, she was once again up on the ladder, taping more streamers that criss-crossed the first ones by the time Sara and Greg made their way into the party room.

They were holding hands, and laughing, looking at each other lovingly, and Mandy, though she knew they were there, did a very convincing job of pretending she hadn't noticed them, perching on tip toes to reach the highest point of the ceiling, teetering a bit. Greg, looking up from Sara, trying to make it casual, frowned.

"Hey Mandy, be careful…that ladder isn't very sturdy…" He said, and she glanced down and gave a genuine smile at his concern as he walked over and put two hands on the bottom of the ladder to make sure Mandy didn't fall. Sara, upon Catherine's instruction, starting hanging up mistletoe, and Mandy, since she now had Greg standing below her, instructed him to hand her the various pieces of the streamer to stick to the ceiling.

Greg watched her, while glancing over at Sara every so often, trying not to check either of them out…too obviously anyway. Hey, just because he was attached didn't mean he couldn't look. He was checking Catherine out a bit too, but not as much as Sara and Mandy. Plus, he had the extra distraction of Lindsay, who kept talking to him, and he smiled and answered her childish questions, while making sure to hold the ladder steady for Mandy.

Once Mandy was finished, she started to climb down the ladder, holding the masking tape in one hand, and was surprised when strong hands curled around her waist and hoisted her down neatly just as she was about to lose her balance. "There you go, Mandy, don't want you to break your arm just a few hours before the party, now do we?" He said, grinning as he carefully moved the ladder out of the way, making Mandy's heart jump a couple times before he headed over to Sara and her heart sank to the bottom of her shoes. Picking up a box of ornaments, she started decorating a tree that stood in the corner.

About ten minutes later, Catherine appeared in the doorway, looking stunning in a black, tight-fitting evening dress, with her hair done up so that curls fell from the curly mass to her shoulders. "Mandy and Sara, you need to get into your outfits, so come on." Mandy got up reluctantly, grabbing her bag, and said a quick bye to Greg, who grinned, anticipating what Mandy…SARA! What _Sara _was going to look like in her outfit.

Well, I won't go into all the details about how they got dressed, or how they put on their make-up, I'll just give you the final result, which, despite Mandy's personal thoughts of herself, were stunning. Trent, who was supposed to be waiting for her at the door, was going to be blown away. Greg certainly was as he saw Sara and Mandy make their way down the stairs, chatting with each other. Mandy had managed to forgive Sara (in her own mind), knowing that it wasn't her fault.

Sara was dressed in a red dress that dropped to her ankles, with a tantalising slit that showed off her long legs, ended with dark blue high-heels. Her hair had been straightened and framed her face, where dark red lipstick and dark eyeshadow gave her the perfect air of mystery.

Mandy was equally gorgeous with a dark, midnight-blue dress that clung to her form, accentuating her curves nicely, ending just above her black, jewel-studded one-inch heeled sandals, with straps that went up her ankle a bit. Her bare shoulders had a midnight-blue shawl draped on them, and her hair had been pulled back by two sparkling pins and curled so that it fell down her bare back, which extended to just above her waist. Her make-up was equally mysterious, and the few men that were already there stared at the two women in awe, including Nick and Warrick, who had decided to be the bachelors of the evening, with no dates.

Greg helped Sara down the last step, smiling at her. "You look…gorgeous." He breathed, and Sara flushed, smiling her trademark gap-toothed grin. Mandy, knowing that Trent should be waiting by the door, walked over, heels clicking. There he was, looking nice in a handsome suit and he seemed shocked for a moment when he saw her, then extended his arm, grinning, and she took it, strolling out to the dance floor with him.

The evening passed wonderfully, and she was whirled around the dance floor by practically everyone she knew. Nick and Warrick, both blown away by how well she cleaned up, took turns dancing with her, though she saved most of the dances for her date, knowing that it was rude not to. Greg and Sara were dancing together for every dance, but she tried to ignore them, laughing and flipping her hair. The dance was nearly done, and Trent excused himself to 'use the facilities', while she stood at the punch bowl, sipping a drink. It was a slow dance, and she watched the couples dancing slowly around the dance floor, most of them perfectly fitted together (with the exception of some of the less-graceful men, who were stepping on their partner's toes). Even Grissom was dancing with…Sara? What? If Grissom was dancing with Sara then where was…

As if answering her question, a finger tapped her shoulder, and she turned to see Greg grinning at her. "May I have this dance, fair maiden?" He asked, and she smiled and nodded, and he took her hand, taking her out to the dance floor, putting one hand on her waist and holding her hand with the other. Although Mandy wasn't the best dancer, everything seemed to flow when she had Greg holding her steady.

"What about Sara? Won't she mind?" Mandy asked teasingly, and Greg grinned, shaking his head and shrugging as they went around the dance floor smoothly, being careful not to bump into any couples. Nick and Warrick had found themselves partners, Mandy noticed, and smiled to herself as she saw how pained they looked, trying not to step on their partner's toes.

"Nah, we agreed that we'd have one dance with other people. What about Trent? Is he going to mind?" Greg asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively, and she smacked his arm lightly, making him laugh.

"I don't think he'll mind, he just went to…use…" Her eyes widened as she looked over Greg's shoulder. She could see Trent, standing in the doorway, kissing some other girl she didn't know. Then he walked off, his hand around that girl's waist, obviously leaving. Greg's mouth dropped open as he followed her eyes and saw Trent's retreating figure and he looked at Mandy, who's mouth had closed, and she had a semi-angry, semi-upset look on her face. She didn't really care that he was leaving, she didn't like him that much anyway, but he hadn't even tried to find her, just left. The bastard.

"Ouch…that bites, Mandy, I'm so sorry…" Greg said in her ear, bringing her back to the present and she shrugged. "I'll teach him a lesson." Greg said solemnly, nodding and a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, which made her smile despite herself, and, to her disappointment, the song ended, and he pulled away, giving a flourishing bow before going to find Sara and she returned to her spot at the punch table.

The party was nearly over; the DJ was announcing something about this being the last song of the evening, when something near the door caught her eye. Looking closer, she nearly choked on her punch as she saw that Greg had done exactly as she'd instructed him to the week before last. He'd gotten Sara under the mistletoe…and they were kissing. Gulping, tears stung the back of her eyes as she sat down in a chair, staring into her drink, but she couldn't help but look up at the pair again, who were just breaking apart, grinning like schoolkids, before heading back onto the dance floor for the last dance.

Mandy sat, thinking bitter thoughts to herself as the music swirled around her. A couple people came up and asked her if she wanted to dance, but she shook her head, not in the mood for even pretending to have a good time. One bitter thought swirled constantly around her head…

Life was unfair.

((There. Cliffhangerish ending, I know, but I don't want to do a LOT all in one chapter. Anyway, I'm sorry it took so long to update, and all that jazz…I'll update sooner next time!))


	7. Just When You Think You're Out

Chapter 7

The party was over. Most of the streamers had either fallen or been pulled down by those that had become slightly tipsy (or full-out drunk, in some cases). They lay on the floor, ripped and shredded, similar to her torn-up and broken heart. Mandy had, without a lot of enthusiasm, elected to aid Catherine in the massive job of cleaning up. She hadn't even wanted to when she'd agreed, but she especially didn't want to now. All she wanted to do was crawl home, slide into her bed and sob into her pillow. As she picked up the streamers and dumped them into a garbage can, watching as they went from festive decorations to just another piece of trash, in about five seconds.

Her high-heels had been discarded at the door for later retrieval, for her feet had begun to ache as much as her heart. Sighing, she bent and scooped up another piece of decoration, barely even glancing at it before tossing it into the black garbage bag she was lugging around after her. Catherine was over in the other corner, and Warrick was hovering by her, chatting with her. Both had sensed that Mandy wanted to be alone, and the news about Trent had slowly drifted through the group. It was generally agreed upon that he was not going to get a very pleasant welcome at work on Monday.

Unbeknownst to anyone but herself was that this was obviously not what Mandy was even upset about. Mandy had only been upset that Trent had not bothered to inform her that he was leaving. It hurt to be treated so nastily, but she had no feelings for him, she got over it. But nothing could bring back the shattered pieces of her heart, with the memory of Sara and Greg under the mistletoe still leering at her in her mind. As if wanting to stab at her one last time, the next item she picked up was a sprig of mistletoe, possibly the same one that Sara and Greg had been under only about half an hour beforehand. Staring at the green against her pale hand, her eyes swam with tears and she clenched her fist, crushing the leaves between her fingers before violently flinging it into the trash bag.

She should have been happy. She had succeeded, with all her advice, into giving Greg the perfect mask of maturity and charm that Sara had wanted. She had succeeded in making two people fall in love and live happily ever after. Yet every thought was tinged with jealousy and heartbreak. For she had fallen in love, with not the mask that Greg would wear with Sara, but the immature, silly, loveable Greg that she had first met. And Sara hadn't. So why was Sara having the love and the happiness, while she floundered in the shadows, heartbroken and unable to find anyone else? Why?

No answers came to her as she dumped her garbage bag by Catherine, a muttered 'see you Monday' emerging from her lips before she turned and moped her way across the floor. As she stooped to retrieve her shoes, then headed towards the doors, she paused, hearing voices from just outside the ajar front doors.

"Hey Sar, I think I might be a bit too…intoxicated to pass a test if a cop should pull me over. I don't think you're sober either…hey! Griss! Do you think you could give Sara a ride home? I'm going inside to see if I can mooch a ride off of Warrick. I'll get my car in the morning." Recognising Greg's voice with a sickening feeling in her stomach, she couldn't help, however, listening in as Sara responded.

"Alright, Greggy, if you're sure…" _Greggy? What the heck is with that? _Mandy thought to herself, wanting to gag. Sara sounded like she'd had too much punch, some of her words slurred together, and it was probably a good idea that Greg send her home with someone. Greggy…ugh…turning her attention to the conversation that continued on just beyond the doors in front of her, she heard Grissom agreeing to take Sara home, and Sara thanking him, a bit drunkenly. She didn't sound full-out drunk yet. Just tipsy. Shaking her head, she heard Greg say goodnight and retreated back a little so that it didn't look as if she'd been listening to his conversation when he entered. Greg seemed to visibly relax as he entered, and Mandy knew he was shedding his layers of charm and maturity that she had laid on for him. When he saw her, a small smile lit upon his face, which quickly turned into a frown as he saw the deep frown lines creased into her forehead.

Suddenly, without any provocation, he wanted more than anything in the entire world to make her smile. To make her laugh, to hear the happy voice he'd become used to hearing around the lab every night, telling jokes, giving him advice he never would have thought he would need, all to help him. Immediately following this need to make her happy came the need to hold her in his arms, and comfort her, and wipe away all her tears. Restraining himself from suddenly flinging his arms around her, he gently draped his arm over her shoulders, seeing how she accepted the display of comfort wordlessly. For a few seconds, words were lost on him, although usually he would have at least been babbling something generic and Hallmark-like to comfort his…_your friend. Nothing more._

"Life's tough sometimes, huh?" It was the worse expression of comfort he had ever come up with, but Mandy seemed to appreciate the effort, for a small smile graced her lips. They exited the doors, Mandy with her shoes in her hands, too tired to bother putting them on. Her normal clothes were already in her car, along with her normal running shoes. Greg was still desperate to put a smile back on her face, and suddenly he spotted the DJ, almost ready to leave, and he had a sudden inspiration. "Mandy, wait right here, okay? Don't leave!" Then, leaving her blown over, he dashed off full-speed towards the DJ. After a few hurried words, and a quick exchange of cash that Greg fumbled out of his pocket, he was running back with a CD clutched in his hand. Mandy was just getting into her car, too depressed to even hope.

"Hold on, don't leave yet! Here, play this CD, and put it on number 8, then get out of the car, please?" When Mandy hesitated, her tired eyes looking at him sceptically, he leaned down so that his face was level with hers. "Please?"

His eyes were sweet and considerate, and she, as usual, could not resist their charm. Sighing, she took the CD, and slid it in, flipping until it got to number 8, then getting out and leaning against the car, wondering what on earth he could want. To her surprise, a slow song came on, which she vaguely recognised as having played earlier that night. Greg smiled a happy-go-lucky, goofy grin at her, and held out his hand to her.

"You didn't dance for the last dance. That's bad luck, you know." Of course, he had just made that up on the spot. It probably was bad luck in some obscure culture, but for the moment, he was content when he saw a small smile slide onto her lips. She was obviously wondering if maybe he was crazy, or just incredibly sweet. After a few seconds of indecision, she reached forward, taking his hand, and he pulled her out away from her car a bit, putting his hand lightly on her waist.

They were alone in the parking lot, which was good, for anyone watching them sway to the music would have sensed more than music on the air. Greg was wondering if he'd lost his marbles, and Mandy was trying to keep her hope under control. He was taken. There was no way he was feeling anything but friendship and sympathy for her. Even so, as his grip on her waist tightened, and the music seemed to stretch and last for so very long, she couldn't help but let a little bit of hope come out. And a wide smile was on her face.

Greg had never felt such happiness as when he saw that smile across her face, but it was tampered by the tiny voice in the back of his mind that was reminding him that Sara was his girlfriend, not Mandy. So why…why did he suddenly have this want to hold her tightly?

_These wounds won't seem to heal.  
This pain is just too real.  
There's just so much that time cannot erase._

_When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears…  
When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears.  
And I held your hand through all of these years…  
But you still have…all of me…_

As Mandy listened to the words in the song that played, she could sympathise with the singer. Even though Greg was taken, and there was no way…that he would ever love her. He had all her heart locked up in his pocket, even if he didn't realise it. As the music slowly wound its way to a close, she pulled away, looking at Greg with a small smile.

_I__'ve tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone  
But though you're still with me__  
I've been alone all along_

Greg thought he could see sadness reflected in those eyes that held him so captive at times, but before he could ask what was wrong, she was turning away, and her finger was turning off the music. "Thanks Greg." With those two words, she had climbed into her car, and was turning on the engine.

"Wait!" He ran to her window, and leaned on it, to keep her from leaving, only to realise that he didn't know what he'd stopped her for. And she was watching him, waiting to see what he wanted, her heart pumping against her neck. "Uh…can I get a ride home? I'm afraid that if I'm pulled over, I can't pass a breathalyser test…"

Mandy nodded after a moment's hesitation, opening the door for him on the other side as he jumped across her hood and jumped in. "Where to?" Greg gave her the address, and she nodded, turning and heading towards where he directed.

For what seemed like a long time, silence filled the car. Finally, Greg broke it, looking at her. "I'm really sorry…about Trent…I'm serious, he's going to have a few surprises waiting for him on Monday." When she didn't respond, he reached over and gently lay his hand on hers. "Hey…look at me for a second." They were at a red light and she looked over unwillingly. "Somebody out there loves you. Just keep remembering that."

Mandy's heart jumped into her throat, reading implications and unsaid emotions in his eyes, and she quickly turned her eyes back to the road before she lost herself in his eyes. "Thanks…I bet you're glad you've got Sara, eh? I saw you two under the mistletoe tonight. I'm glad you took my advice…" Mandy said all of this in a rush, afraid to look to see his reaction.

"Oh yeah. That was great. So, for next ti –" Greg started, but stopped as Mandy shook her head. "What?" After a few seconds silence, she turned to him, her eyes hollow. They were in his driveway now, and it was time to tell him.

"I can't keep helping you. You have to figure it out on your own from now on." Mandy said, looking at him with a face that belied her words. She wanted to help him, but she couldn't do this to herself. Not anymore. Greg seemed to sense that something was hurting her about helping him. But what…she couldn't…no, that was to much to hope for. HOPE for? What are you talking about? You're taken, man, don't forget that.

"I…Okay. I guess I can muddle through on my own." Leaning forward suddenly, he paused, looking at her, then gently kissed her on the cheek. "Goodnight. See you Monday. Take care of yourself." Getting out, he walked up to his house, and waved as she disappeared down the street, wondering whether it would be easy to just clone himself. That way he wouldn't be being pulled in two ways at once.

Mandy had to stop the car once she was out of sight from Greg's house, and her hand went to her cheek. Oh no...she was lost forever. She couldn't go back, couldn't go forward without hurting Sara...couldn't just disappear. With a sad sigh, she headed towards home and bed. Maybe...somehow...she could work this out.

**((I'm sorry it took so long to update guys. I actually wasn't going to update at all, but I decided that I might as well…so yeah, not a lot happened in this chapter, but I felt like…blah. I will hopefully think of something else to write soon. Sorry if it gets kind of bad near the end, I was tired. ))**


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